Tess of the d’Urbervilles · Chapter
XVII explained
Tess arrives at Talbothays Dairy and begins her new life as a milkmaid.
What happens
Tess arrives at Talbothays Dairy and begins her new life as a milkmaid. She meets Dairyman Crick and the other workers, and is struck by the appearance of a young man who turns out to be Angel Clare, the gentleman learning dairy work. Tess recognizes him as the stranger who danced with others but not her at the club-dance in Marlott, but he does not remember her. She settles into her new surroundings, learning about Angel from the other milkmaids, and begins milking, feeling a sense of peace and a new foundation for her future.
Themes in this chapter
Social Class and Inequality
Angel Clare is a gentleman's son learning farming, while Tess is a poor milkmaid; the dairyman addresses Angel as 'sir,' highlighting class distinctions.
Fate and Inevitability
Tess's recognition of Angel as the stranger from the dance suggests a fated reconnection, yet he does not remember her, hinting at the role of chance and destiny.
Characters to notice
- Tess Durbeyfield
Arrives at Talbothays Dairy, begins milking, and recognizes Angel Clare from the Marlott club-dance.
- Angel Clare
Working as a dairy pupil, milking clumsily; Tess recognizes him as the stranger who slighted her at the dance.
- Dairyman Crick
Welcomes Tess warmly, assigns her to milking, and tells a story about William Dewy and a bull.
- Mrs. Crick
Mentioned as the dairyman's wife who oversees the household and wears a hot stuff gown.
- Joan Durbeyfield
Mentioned in Dairyman Crick's inquiry about Tess's family.
Key passages
“Such vicissitudes had Tess passed through since that time that for a moment she could not remember where she had met him; and then it flashed upon her that he was the pedestrian who had joined in the club-dance at Marlott—the passing stranger who had come she knew not whence, had danced with others but not with her, and slightingly left her, and gone on his way with his friends.”
Tess had been through so much that she briefly forgot where she had seen Angel before, but then recalled he was the stranger at the Marlott dance who danced with everyone except her and left without a word.
Tess recognizes Angel Clare as the man from the club-dance, a moment of fateful connection.
“He might with equal probability have been an eccentric landowner or a gentlemanly ploughman.”
Angel's appearance was ambiguous, making him look like either a wealthy landowner or a refined farm laborer.
Highlights the class ambiguity of Angel Clare's character.
“The conviction bred serenity, her pulse slowed, and she was able to look about her.”
Feeling that she had started a new chapter in her life, Tess became calm and began to observe her surroundings.
Tess finds peace in her new work at Talbothays.